In the absence of big names in the South Australian Redbacks squad, Michael Klinger is banking on team unity to see them through in the Champions League.

By Abhishek Hore

AH: Tell us something about the team's strong points and areas where the team needs to improve?

Michael Clinger: We are a very even team with strong team values and belief in each other. Having Callum Ferguson back after injury is like having a new recruit for us and although he missed all of last season after undergoing knee surgery, we are hoping he puts up a good performance and stake his claim for a place in the Australian squad.

We may not have as many so-called international stars as some of the other teams, but I think this may work to our advantage as our opposition won’t know a lot of our players' strengths and weaknesses.

Our strength lies in the evenness of our team and our success will depend on contributions from the whole group, but we have the fastest bowler in the world in this format in Shaun Tait and we are sure he will trouble the opposition batsmen.

AH: Who are the players you think are going to make a difference to the team’s fortunes in the Champions League?

MS: Daniel Christian has had some experience at International level in this format and will get an opportunity to bat higher up the order in the absence of Kieren Pollard and Shahid Afridi, and Callum Ferguson is already in terrific form and will hopefully do well.

AH: How has been the team’s preparation?

MS: We’ve been training at a high intensity including sessions with noise in the background to create situations we may find ourselves in during the tournament in South Africa. This will hopefully prepare us to perform better under pressure in packed stadiums.

In Adelaide it is winter at the moment so we have had two trips to northern Australia to get some match practice against other first class teams in Australia. This has been extremely beneficial as far as match practice is concerned as well as experimenting with team plans and tactics.

AH: Do you believe your team can win the Champions League?

MS: No doubt we can. We have some serious weapons in our team with both bat and ball, which other teams are not aware of. We are the underdogs but team unity and belief in each other's abilities will hold us in good stead when it comes to performing under pressure.

AH: Who, according to you, are the teams to watch out for in the league, apart from South Australian Redbacks?

MS: On paper I think all teams will be a bit scared of Bangalore. They have a great group of international stars as well some very good Indian players, led by a quality captain in Anil Kumble, so they will definitely be tough to beat.

I suppose what could work against such a quality group of players is that they haven’t been training together over the last few months; whether that has an effect or not, let’s wait and watch.

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